DENIS JENKINSON - AND VINCENTS

[Diogenes]

http://www.grandprix.com/ft/ft17104.html

Why I look forward to... the French Grand Prix
JULY 10, 2006
BY MIKE DOODSON
"I was sent to cover the 1969 race at Clermont by Motor Sport magazine, a task I accepted with deep reluctance only because our regular correspondent, the illustrious Denis Jenkinson, was to be unavoidably absent. Jenks wanted to stay in England that weekend because he was sprinting his Vincent motorcycle, so I turned in a tentative story which was then set in type. To my relief, however, it did not need to be published because a few days later Jenks submitted a report which had been cobbled together from a couple of phone calls and the stuff he'd read in the weeklies. Sad to say, this incident rather diminished my admiration for a reporter whose reputation rightly hung on his ability to make you feel he was always at the heart of the action."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Jenkinson
"In the sixties Jenkinson did much to promote the sport of drag racing in the pages of Motor Sport magazine.[4] On September 14, 1963 he rode his NorBSA motorcycle, a BSA Gold Star 500cc engine in a modified and lowered Norton frame, at the Brighton Speed Trials.[5] He drove an Allard Dragon dragster and also rode a 648 c.c. Triumph sprint motorcycle in the 1965 Drag Festival.[6] He remained a motorcycle enthusiast, and competed in hillclimbs and sprints on his own Triumph-BSA hybrid well into his seventies."

I was surprised to read the above statement by Mike Doodson that Denis Jenkinson sprinted a Vincent motorcycle.
I cannot recall ever seeing any mention of that.
And the Wikipedia entry for Denis Jenkinson makes no mention of any involvement in Vincent sprinting.

Can anyone say if there was any Vincent sprinting by Denis Jenkinson?
Just curious.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I only remember him on I think a Triumph, I think he would have trouble with a Vin, He was very short, But he may have tested some ones Bike, Cheers Bill.

 

[david bowen]

I only remember him on I think a Triumph, I think he would have trouble with a Vin, He was very short, But he may have tested some ones Bike, Cheers Bill.

A friend in UK owns D. J's road going C Rap. It has the original log book with all his details. It had a modified lower seat fitted.

 

[highbury731]

A friend in uk owns D. Js road going C Rap it

Jenks didn't like having the initials 'DJ' because of obvious connotations, so he added the 'S' in the middle, making 'DSJ'. But the S stood for nothing, he had no middle name.

 

[Bill Thomas]

I thought he was a shy man, A job to get him to talk, But I did have a chat with him once about V12 Jag's, I worked on them at one time, And bought one later, Not one of my best buy's !!. Cheers Bill.

 

[Diogenes]

A friend in UK owns D. J's road going C Rap. It has the original log book with all his details. It had a modified lower seat fitted.

Could you state the registration number of that Vincent?
Use Private Message if preferred.
That could help identify the bike in any photos - there may be a photo of DSJ sprinting that Vincent, as it was not unknown for road going bikes to be used in sprints in those days. And that would confirm the claim by Mike Doodson [ see top of thread ].

 

[Upstreeter]

Jenks was an eccentric in all the best ways as you will know by talking to anyone who knew him. His 'autobiography' 'A passion for Motor Sport' is an excellent read. I'm always fascinated by those who successfully bridge the gap between genuine enthusiasms for both two and four wheels, and he, like Surtees was one of them. I've only ever seen a picture of his rather tatty looking Rapide in period - I don't suppose it looks like that now!